Break Him Down, Hold Him Together
by MoonlightSpirit
Summary: Stefan knows that Damon is hurting after Rose's death and wants to help with. Along with Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy and Caroline, they plan to make Damon admit to the hurt he tries so desperately to hide...even if they have to watch him break down to do so.


**Am I the only one who thinks Damon's needed some love lately? I mean, I loved the latest episode and thought it was sweet for Stefan to set up the sleepover with Caroline, Elena and Bonnie, but then I couldn't help but think, "Why doesn't he do something nice like that for Damon?" I mean, the poor guy is obviously hurting from Rose's death. I gave Stefan some slack in 'The Descent' 'cause he seemed so absorbed with Elena, but then he did that for Caroline and I'm just like, "Dude! You're brother is hurting! Comfort him dammit!" So that's where this comes it. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.**

Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie and Caroline were all gathered in the Gilbert living room. Stefan had asked Elena together everyone to meet there around noon. And at noon sharp, someone knocked on the door. Elena went to open it for Stefan.

"So what's going on?" Elena asked once she and Stefan had taken a seat on the couch. Bonnie sat in the armchair with Jeremy sitting next to her on the arm of the chair. Caroline walked in from the kitchen – where she had been eating while waiting for Stefan to come – and leaned against the wall.

"It's Damon," Stefan said, "I'm worried about him. He's been acting…odd ever since Rose died. And last night I…" Stefan took a deep breath, "I smelled fresh human blood last night. And this morning I saw Damon dragging a body outside."

"He killed someone?" Bonnie said incredulously, anger flashing across her face.

"He hasn't killed anyone in over year," Stefan said quickly to curb the witch's anger, "That's why this is so weird. And the night Rose died, I smelled fresh human blood on Damon."

"Do you think he could have killed those campers?" Elena asked. Stefan shook his head.

"Those campers were mangled and weren't drained of blood," Stefan said, "And Damon would never leave a mess like that behind."

"So what do you want us to do?" Jeremy asked.

"Damon is using human blood to curb the hurt," Stefan said, looking down at the carpet, his brow knitting together, "But I see it…everyday. The hurt is chipping away at me. The more he tried to hold it in, the more it's trying to get out. I'm scared that one day he's going to crack and do something stupid or dangerous or both." Stefan finally looked up at everyone.

"Damon thinks he's alone in this world," Stefan said, "Rose was the first person in over a century that really understood Damon. With her gone, he feels like he's alone again. We have to show him he's not." Stefan noticed Bonnie's slight frown and how she was determined not to look him in the eye.

"Bonnie?" Stefan said softly. The young witches eyes darted toward him.

"I know how you feel about Damon," he said, "About vampires in general. But Damon needs all of us. I've never seen Damon care about someone as much as he cared about Rose. Rose was like Damon's double and he cared about her more than he was willing to admit. She understood him like no one else," Stefan took a deep breath as he said, "She was bitten by a werewolf and a werewolf bite is fatal to a vampire. Rose died, slowly and painfully. I'm not sure when she died and what it was like when she finally did. Only that Damon was with her when she did. He watched her die." Stefan could see the internal conflict in Bonnie's eyes.

"Please," he said quietly. Bonnie let out a long sigh.

"I didn't think Damon cared about anyone but himself," she muttered, shaking her head, "But if someone like him can care…" she smiled wryly at Stefan.

"I'll help," she finally said.

"But how are we going to do this?" Caroline asked, "I mean, I doubt Damon's gonna want to sit down and talk about his dead girlfriend." A small smile twitched onto Stefan's face.

"Well," he said, "I was thinking of an ambush…"

* * *

Damon walked into the boarding house after a long afternoon at The Grill. To his surprise, Elena stood in the hallway.

"Hello Elena," he said with his usual smirk, although Elena noticed that the smirk held a little less cockiness and a little more sadness than usual.

"To what do I owe this surprise?" Damon asked, closing the door behind him.

"We need to talk," Elena said, shuffling her feet nervously. She wasn't sure how Damon would react to this.

"About what?" Damon said with a chuckle. Elena noticed the slight, nervous dart of his crystal blue eyes.

"Rose," Elena said softly, "Damon, I know you're hurting." The smirk slipped right off of Damon's face.

"I'm fine," Damon said a little too quickly, "Why does everyone think I'm upset over that? I don't care!"

"You don't mean that Damon," Elena said, taking a step toward him.

"Yes. I _really _do," Damon hissed, his eyes blazing with…not quite anger. Almost…_rage_. Like he was fighting with himself to hold something in.

"I don't need this," Damon snapped, heading up the stairs…but Bonnie and Jeremy stood at the top staircase, blocking his way. Damon raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"You're going to talk," Jeremy said, "Whether you want to or not." Damon took a few steps toward them until he towered over the two teens.

"Move," he said in a low, threatening voice.

"We're not scared of you," Bonnie said, standing her ground, crossing her arms over her chest, "You know what I can do." Damon stared her down for a minute. He knew that she could make his head feel like it was on fire before he could even flinch.

"Fine," he spat, moving at vampire speed at the front door…but Stefan blocked out.

"You're not leaving this house until we talk," Stefan said. Damon let out a low growl, making a beeline for the back door…but Caroline was blocking it. Damon cursed under his breath.

"What do you want?" he snapped, running back into the hall. He was suddenly feeling very trapped, his chest tightening. He had to get out of this house. _Now_.

"Damon, we know you're hurting," Elena said, her voice still soft, "About Rose."

"I told you I'm fine!" he snapped.

"You cared about her," Stefan said.

"So what if I did?" Damon said, rolling his eyes.

"It's okay," Stefan said, "It means your-"

"Human?" Damon sneered, "News flash little brother, I'm not human!"

"I wasn't going to say that," Stefan said, taking a few steps toward his older brother, "I was going to say it means your possible of feeling, no matter what you may say or think about yourself. It means you're capable of care and love."

"Shut up!" Damon shouted, breathing heavily. His eyes were burning silver with anger as they darted around, desperate to find an escape.

"Let me out," Damon said, his voice wavering, "Let me out or I swear to God I will-"

"Damon, let us help you,"" Caroline piped up, "We're you're friends." Damon's eyes flitted over everyone, surrounding him like sharks around a bloody carcass. There was no escape, no way out.

"Damon," Elena said, slowly putting a hand on his shoulders, "Please. We care about you. We don't want to see you hurting like this. You're heading down a dark path you don't want to walk on." Damon glared down at her, jerking away from her touch and backing away.

"What do you want me to say?" he shouted, "That I cared about her? That a part of me might have even _loved _her?" His chest heaved with every heavy, breath he took.

"You want to hear how she _died _in my arms?" Damon said, his voice wavering slightly, "After I _plunged a stake through her heart _because I knew she was going to die an agonizing death and I wanted to end her pain?" An uneasy silence fell over the house. No one knew that Damon had staked Rose.

"W-We didn't know," Elena stammered.

"No, you didn't," Damon growled and Elena could swear she saw tears swimming in his crystal blue eyes, "You have no idea-" Damon's sentence was cut off when Elena suddenly wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in his ear, "I'm so sorry." Damon's hands remained limp at his sides. But Stefan and Caroline saw the slight tense of his muscles as he readied to break from Elena's grasp. Quickly, they grabbed him as he struggled to escape from their grasp.

"Let me go!" he shouted, "Let me go!" He was trapped. Their voices were everywhere, surrounding him, saying his name.

_Damon. Damon. Damon. Damon. Damon._

Sounds and hands trapped him like the iron bars of a cage. Damon felt his resistance slowly crumbling, his shouts of protest catching in his throat, his fighting against their grasps slowing down.

And then Damon broke.

His head fell onto Elena's shoulder and he broke down into sobs. The hands restraining him were now embracing him. Elena, Stefan, Caroline, Bonnie and Jeremy embraced the broken vampire.

"We're here," Elena whispered softly to Damon, "We're here for you Damon." They all glanced at each other, as Damon broke apart in their embrace. Never had they seen him like this, even Stefan looked shocked at his big brother's sudden emotional breakdown. But years of pent up anger, sadness and frustration and finally boiled over in Damon's heart. It had been getting harder for him control in the past year or so with all that had happened. He felt himself starting to care more, but didn't want to admit it. Rose had been that final thing that tipped the scales in Damon's heart, that proved to him he was capable of caring and loving and that he would never be able to turn those emotions off.

They weren't sure how long they all stood there in that embrace. It didn't matter though. They could have been there for an eternity and not noticed. Damon's sobs were ripping like knives through the house as his friends surrounded him, trying so desperately to hold him together.

**So there's **_**Break Him Down, Hold Him Together**_**. How I would love to see a huge group hug with all of them, it would just be so cute ^-^ Seriously though, all I've been thinking since Rose's death was, "Gosh darn it, will someone just hug Damon! He needs a hug!" I know Elena hugged him, but not long enough. You could see in his eyes he was about to crack and cry, but then she let go :P. Anyways, I hope you liked this! Please Review!**


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